Blueberry Gelato

Blueberries are capable of adding some special … colors! This intensely purple color that the gelato turned pleasantly surprised me!

I was expecting a more reddish tinge, for I really never seen an ice cream this color! While I marveled at how pretty this looks, the kids were wishing they had a crayon this deep lavender that they could color with.

Not too far from our home, is a pretty place with fountains, music, restaurants which laid out tables & umbrellas outside, night light & life & a small Italian Ice Cream place at one corner – which has the most wonderful sorbets & gelati fresh made on site every day. Perfect summer setting. Last time we spent our evening there, Arjun had Mango Pomegranate & Mixed Berry Sorbet, the kids took fresh Strawberry Cream & Key Lime & I indulged with Tiramisu & Chocolate Mocha. The texture of the gelato was strikingly different from the regular ice cream we usually have; it was smooth , not as heavy & made us crave more & more.

So this little Italian Corner & the few boxes of blueberries at home inspired this Blueberry Gelato. I loved the idea that I did not need to use Cream or egg for the gelato. I have adapted from here.

Blueberry Gelato

Ingredient:

3 Cups Whole Milk (full fat milk)

1/2 Cup Sugar

2 Cups (About a pound) Blueberries

1 Tablespoon Lemon zest

1 Tablespoon Sloe Gin (Optional – the booze is supposed to reduce the crystals, esp. if you do not have the luxury of an ice cream machine)

2 Tablespoons Corn Starch (also known as Corn Flour)

Juice from 1/2 a fresh lemon or lime

Preparation:

Place blueberries, sugar and lemon juice & 2 Tablespoons of water in a pan on a very low heat until all the sugar has dissolved. Cook blueberries until soft but still can hold their shape. Remove from heat & cool & stir in the lemon zest.

Chill the mix overnight in fridge or until completely cold.

Mix together 1 cup of milk and corn flour together till smooth; Heat rest of milk in a pan at low heat.

Just before the milk starts to boil, remove from the heat and stir in the milk with the corn flour. Stir so that there are no lumps. Put the pan to the heat and cook on a low heat, stirring constantly for a few minutes until milk thickens. The floury taste of the corn starch should be gone before you are done.

Remove the mix from heat and chill in fridge overnight.

Next day, mix the sloe gin with the berry mix. Blend 2/3 of the blueberries until smooth and keep 1/3 aside. Mix together the thickened milk, blended blueberries and whole blueberries till well combined.

If you own an ice cream maker:

Transfer the mix into ice cream maker and process according to manufacturers instructions.

If you do not have an ice cream machine:

Freeze the mix, for about 1.5 hours, take it out & scrape/whisk with an electric mixture or with hand till smooth & all the crystals are gone from the mix. Do this for at least 5 times before you finally freeze in a metal container.

Serve topped with some fresh blueberries. I served the ice cream in little kiddie cones with ice cream scooped with the small melon scoop.

Well by the time you finished reading the post the ice cream melted:-)

What more could I say except that this was declared as delicious by all. The beautiful color & the abundance of berries in every bite, unlike the store bought ice creams were the extras which added to the grading scale. We are still enjoying so berry Blueberry Gelato.

What is Gelato?

Gelato, (plural gelati), is Italy’s regional variant of ice cream. It is made with some of the same ingredients as most ice-creams; milk & cream, sugar, flavorings fruits, nuts, essences, etc. and air are the main ingredients. Unlike many types of ice cream tho’, gelato often does not contain eggs. A form of gelato made with water & sometimes fresh fruits (and no milk) or soy milk is called Sorbetto.

“… Gelato is often compared to ice milk rather than ice cream. Gelato melts faster than ice cream because of its semi-frozen consistency. It is stored in a forced air freezer, different than those freezers that store American style ice cream. Some versions of gelato are lower in fat and calories than traditional ice cream.

Because of its softer texture, gelato can be more easily swirled or molded with a spatula than can ice cream.” (Source)

Looks beautiful and the color is amazing. I am very very inclined to try this as I have pretty much all the ingredients exept the Sloe Gin. Does the corn starch imparts any starchy, floury taste or is it masked completely? Can I use 2% milk instead of wole milk?
Nope no taste of the corn flour. just make sure you boil the milk … the taste will disappear. I am not sure how the 2% will work… might have more crystals? not sure. Don’t have to add the sloe gin if you do not have. Bee (Jugalbandi) had suggested to use some kind of booze to reduce crystals, & the sloe gin is a what i had at home (it is berry based), so I used it.

I would so love to try this Soma… I know you specifically mentioned full fat milk, but can I use skim milk in this? That is what I have on hand at the moment and can’t wait to give it a try.
Anu, as I have written to Supriya (Redchillies) before, I do not know how it is going to turn out with low fat milk.. perhaps more crystals.. but that is something i really would not mind. Try using more milk & boiling it down to make it slightly thicker than the light skim milk.. if u cannot wait!

WOW!!!!!!! this is what u call refreshing ……so it’s time for me to take out the ice-cream makerout……
It look so delicious can’t wait to try my hands on it specially b’coz it’s egg free…..i thinkk i’m gonna skip the Gin.

Beautiful pictures! I freaking LOVE gelato. Ever since I went to Italy a couple of years ago and ate it after lunch and dinner I have been obsessed. Thank you so much for showing me how to make it at home and without an ice cream maker! I still have yet to get one of those.

Hi fantastic colour! We dont get fresh blueberries here, frozen ones cost an arm and a leg! What other fruits would you recomend please? Would love to make for my grandkids!

The closest to blueberries I think is Falsa.. That is the only name I know for that, it looks similar to blueberries.

Other berries good for this is strawberry.. Fruits would be plum, peach, cherries, any stone fruit – but you would have to cut them smaller, & boil them for little bit longer to get them soft & almost cooked. For a different kind of flavor you could try roasting peach with some sprinkled sugar. .. It is just the procedure of the gelato that matters, any flavor or fruit/berry could be used. Fresh mangoes?? great idea too.

Prepping my berries and milk mixture tonight… can’t wait to see the final result! I used full fat milk but had trouble getting it to thicken. I hesitated to add more corn starch — hoping it is thick enough and will do more overnight in fridge. What consistency should we cook the milk to? Thanks!

Hi Soma
I have always looked at your blog for the various pictures and the way you write. Love it!
I was looking at making some good ice-cream with berries for my kiddos birthday this summer and voila, I stumbled upon this beautiful recipe – I have got to look no further now
I hope to make this for her birthday and hope that her friends will like it too.
I am making something for the first time from your blog – and I am excited.
Thank for the recipe

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